IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies' Hand-Held Solutions Improve the Effectiveness of More Than 10,000 Pharmaceutical Sales Professionals in North America.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1999--

Hand-Held Technology Drives Productivity Gains For

Pharmaceutical Sales Forces

IMS HEALTH (NYSE:RX) today reported that more than 10,000 sales representatives at 17 pharmaceutical companies in North America are using the IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies hand-held personal computer (HPC) sales force automation system, enabling significant gains in the effectiveness and productivity of pharmaceutical sales activities. IMS HEALTH is the world's leading provider of information solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

"We are pleased to have passed the 10,000 rep milestone with our HPC solutions," said Ronald Brown, CEO, IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies. "The portability of HPCs, combined with the quick delivery of accurate, actionable information, offers significant advantages to mobile sales forces anywhere in the world."

Because of their small size, lower weight and lower cost compared to laptops, pharmaceutical companies and contract sales organizations (CSO's) deploy HPC technology to increase sales force mobility and access to information that is critical to pharmaceutical sales. The lower cost of HPCs meet cost and functionality requirements for sales activities in a wide range of regions throughout the world, including Latin America, Asia and Africa. HPC technology also offers a lower cost of entry for companies automating their field forces for the first time.

"The accuracy rate for sales data collected on behalf of our customers has jumped to 100 percent, up from 85-to-90 percent accuracy with our former paper-based process, since we deployed HPCs running Microsoft Windows CE and a custom sales force automation application from IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies," said Tom Pollock, Senior Director, Information Systems for Snyder Healthcare Sales, a contract sales organization. "We also are able to deliver reports six times faster at about the same cost of the paper-based system, so our customers are very happy."

During the past year, CSO's in North America have deployed IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies hand-held systems to approximately 4,000 sales representatives.

IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies has been a leader in developing HPC solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, and continues to be actively involved in HPC software development. Ten years ago, a partnership with Sharp Electronics was established to push the technology further.

"IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies' commitment to the hand-held industry remains unsurpassed, and we value them as one of our most successful solution partners," said John Hannan, Sharp Electronics' Associate Director, VAR Operations. "Our strategy has been to focus on strategic solution partners in selected vertical markets, such as pharmaceutical, healthcare and financial services, where Sharp hand-held products, coupled with our partner's software, provide an ideal solution. Our biggest successes in mobile computing are due to IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies' hand-held solutions."

Using Sybase, Inc.'s Adaptive Server Anywhere 6.0 as the mobile database engine for its applications on Windows CE, the IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies HPC system delivers customer and product information, as well as call reports, profiling, targeting and sample management information to hand-held devices using Windows CE.

"Microsoft is pleased that industry leaders such as IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies and Sybase are using Windows CE-based devices and applications to provide enterprise solutions," said Adam Anger, product manager, Productivity Appliances Division, Microsoft Corp. "Windows CE offers a powerful platform for solutions providers building sales force automation solutions that help customers gain business insight and improve customer relationship management."

Through a unique combination of tailored and integrated software, customer databases and expert service and support, IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies is the global market leader in the implementation of customized Pharmaceutical Relationship Management solutions. Focusing solely on the pharmaceutical industry, IMS HEALTH Strategic Technologies implements leading-edge knowledge management solutions that help clients achieve maximum return on their sales and marketing investment.

IMS HEALTH is the world's leading provider of information solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. With $1.2 billion in 1998 revenue, IMS HEALTH operates in over 90 countries. IMS HEALTH is the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer information partner, with over 40 years' experience in the industry. Key products and services integral to customer day-to-day operations include: market research for prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products; sales management information to optimize sales force productivity; technology enabled selling solutions for sales and marketing decision-making; and technology systems and information services that support managed care organizations. Additional information is available at http://www.imshealth.com.